A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

APRIL 13, 2020

As policy makers around the world seek to mitigate the economic shock from this pandemic, one less obvious but powerful place to look are working capital flows. We also need our capital markets to work so actions like the Fed is taking are necessary and important.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

And the loosening of federal monetary policies, particularly in the US, has pushed more dollars into the venture ecosystems at every stage of financing. how on Earth could the venture capital market stand still? What Has Changed in Financing? two founders in a garage?—?(HP Of course we can’t. dot-com bonanza.

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This is going to be BIG.

DECEMBER 28, 2013

Every time he opens his mouth about founder diversity, he seems completely out of his league to address the topic. However, in this moment, I think one''s career in venture capital depends on changing your perspective. As I guy, I know how hard it is for us to do either of those things, let alone do both at the same time. That''s 25%.

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TechCrunch

DECEMBER 29, 2022

Blair Silverberg is co-founder and CEO of Hum Capital , a financial services company using technology to accelerate the fundraising process. For many founders in the startup community, a “founder-friendly” investor is one who stays relatively hands off. Factor in founder friendliness.

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Dream It

DECEMBER 19, 2019

million Series A financing round led by San Francisco-based Builders VC. Chris Molaro, Founder of NeuroFlow. Builders VC, a leading venture capital firm with investments in several health tech companies, saw value in NeuroFlow’s technology and the market demand for new solutions closing the divide between mental and physical health.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2016

There was an explosion in number of startups both because it was cheap and there was tons of available capital. The other major trend of 2012–2015 was the entrance of “non VCs” into late-stages of venture capital , which mostly consisted of hedge funds, mutual funds, corporate investors, sovereign wealth funds and even LPs doing direct deals.

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This is going to be BIG.

MAY 4, 2022

For most founders, fundraising is a struggle. Only a small minority of people are born into the kinds of connections and life paths to provide them instant access to capital. I’m a straight white dude who grew up in NYC and worked in finance. That may come with the headwinds of bias working against you—conscious or otherwise.

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A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

JULY 19, 2021

Over the last 18 months, the early-stage financing market has seen dramatic changes characterized by these three things: A shift from in-person fundraising to virtual fundraising A reduction in financing process timelines from months to weeks A continued increase in the amount of capital available for early stage companies.

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This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 17, 2014

They''re new to the gig, super excited about all its potential, and getting out there selling founders hope for that one big gamechanging deal. That''s really all I have to give to the founders I back. It takes longer to get to know the founders. I gave the founder some thoughtful feedback, but declined the one on one.

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This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 12, 2014

These companies didn''t announce their financings right away, and for good reason. They''re building up their PR plans to make the financing announcements part of a larger story arc. Sometimes it means establishing founder credibility over time to prospective future investors or to potential employees.

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TechCrunch

AUGUST 4, 2021

Zeni , a Palo Alto fintech company providing real-time financial services data to venture-backed startups, raised $34 million in Series B funding led by Elevation Capital. As part of the investment, Ravi Adusumalli, founder and managing partner at Elevation Capital, will join Zeni’s board. The company has now raised $47.5

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

JUNE 19, 2024

Instead, it began with 15 years of hands-on learning in capital markets, working closely with entrepreneurs, investors, and bankers. This experience allowed me to identify a critical void in financing companies: building healthy capital stacks and navigating the public offering process. and more articles from the EO blog.

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Over the past month a colleague ( Chang Xu ) and I sifted through data on the venture capital industry (as we do every year) and made a bunch of calls to VCs and LPs to confirm our hypotheses. As a result of the IPO window shifting we saw a massive inflow of public-market capital into the latest stages of venture.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2014

Cincinnati, like many startup communities in the US over the past 5 years, has revitalized important regions in its urban core, created accelerators, built co-working facilities, pooled together angel capital, attracted VCs, involved educational institutions and solicited the help of important corporations in a more cohesive ecosystem.

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This is going to be BIG.

APRIL 11, 2016

Unfortunately, one of the panelists, Skinny Girl vodka's Bethenny Frankel, told an African American founder in the audience that if she wanted to raise funding, that she should go out and hire a white guy to be the face of her business. I know that white males get a majority of the venture capital funding. I'm not your finance bro.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

Clearly the founders and senior executives of a company are the most valuable resources and their time should be maximized on the most valuable tasks. I watched Ophir Tanz achieve much in his early days at the Founder & CEO at GumGum, which has now become quite a large business. I have written about the next phases many times.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 7, 2014

There weren’t a lot of seed funds in 2007 so this was often done by angels, funding consortia or sometimes early-stage funds that existed then (First Round Capital, True Ventures, SoftTech VC, etc.). 5 million was always the classic definition of an A-round between the late nineties (crazy financings aside) and say 2007.

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Andreessen Horowitz

FEBRUARY 13, 2024

But how can biotech teams effectively communicate to investors and partners how they will, with each round of financing, incrementally reduce the risks of discovering and developing successful new drugs? One of the most common questions we get from early stage founders is “what should I put in my data room?”

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This is going to be BIG.

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

I’m very worried about any company that has moderate growth plans for 2023 that expects to get another round of financing based on that result. To me, that has a high chance of putting off the inevitable—running out of money during a fundraising process. I can’t guarantee that stepping on the gas will get you that next round.

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American Entrepreneurship

JULY 15, 2024

The four co-founders are continuing to pass major milestones with an acquisition strategy and timely funding since its launch in 2017 Drivers’ parking experiences around the country are now being enhanced through artificial intelligence, enabling them to readily come and go without checking out.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There’s a quick litmus-test conversation any early-stage VC will have with the founder and it’s one that you should be as prepared for as your elevator pitch. Founder: “$8–10 million” VC: “What’s your current burn rate?” Founder: “$250k / month.” Founder: “Um. Why are you raising so much?” Let me check my plan.”

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500

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

Startup founders often have ambitions not just to make money, but to change the world. So, how do we help these founders accomplish these goals? ImpactAIM Indonesia’s goal is to bridge the world of impact financing with the world of tech startups in Indonesia.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2014

I first met Andrew Stalbow , the founder & CEO of Seriously in August of 2013. and Petri was co-founder and head of creative at Remedy Entertainment that launched the hit PC games Max Payne and Alan Wake. By September 26th we had submitted a term sheet which was signed on October 4th and financing was closed in less than 30 days.

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This is going to be BIG.

MARCH 2, 2015

Most founders barely have anything that looks like anything at this point, and most of them haven''t done this before. The founders I backed aren''t VCs (well, except Dave ) so I don''t know if that is such a great signal. Obviously, there''s a wide spectrum of founders trying to raise money. Venture Capital & Technology'

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. This happens slowly because while public markets trade daily and prices then adjust instantly, private markets don’t get reset until follow-on financing rounds happen which can take 6–24 months.

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Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? They were a way to gather cheap capital.

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Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 24, 2014

As a result I didn’t write my first venture capital check until March 2009 – exactly 5 years ago. I divided success into the phases of venture capital and 18 months into writing my first check here was my view (details on each in the link above). I’ve now been involved with many other successful foll0w-on financings.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 26, 2022

We believe this consistency in leadership and intuition for where the markets were going in the heady days of 2019–2021 helped us to stay sane in a world that momentarily seemed to have lost its mind and since we have new capital to deploy in the years ahead perhaps I can offer some insights into where we think value will be derived.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

NOVEMBER 17, 2022

However, it allows you the freedom to explore all the spaces and crevices of your mind and abilities and work on your own terms,” said Natasha Miller, EO Los Angeles and EO US West Bridge member, and founder of Entire Productions. “I couldn’t imagine another way of life for myself. But understand it’s not for everyone.”.

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Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

The key to being able to run a business that isn’t yet profitable (on operating margin) is availability of capital to finance losses and preferably at a cost that isn’t too punitive to the founders and employees. It’s funny how scarcity of capital can focus one’s mind. So if you’re able to raise easily no problem.

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American Entrepreneurship

MARCH 28, 2024

Boulevard Capital delivers fast funding to help salons, spas, barbershops, and medspas accelerate business growth LOS ANGELES – March 20, 2024 – Boulevard ( www.joinblvd.com ), provider of the client experience platform purpose-built for appointment-based, self-care businesses, today announced the launch of Boulevard Capital.

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A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

MAY 30, 2019

I was reminded yesterday how much of a s**t show raising seed capital via SAFE notes is. We are not opposed to convertible and SAFE notes and will not let the form of security the founder wants to use get between us and investing in a company that we like. They obfuscate the amount of dilution the founder(s) is taking.

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Dream It

APRIL 12, 2020

Paul Martino, General Partner at Bullpen Capital. During our recent Dreamit Kickoff week, Bullpen Capital Founder and General Partner Paul Martino ( @ahpah ) spoke with our Spring 2020 cohort about the state of the VC ecosystem in the current economic crisis. Will a financial crisis affect how venture funds deploy capital?

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Revolution

MAY 11, 2023

Despite 2022’s heel turn, the ten-year funding trend line still points to VCs concentrating less capital in the major coastal hubs and more in the rest of the country, a collective area of focus for attendees. To make it easier to toggle between the three, there needs to be significant policy, financing, and physical transformation.

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Entrepreneurs' Organization

OCTOBER 27, 2023

We summarize these pearls of wisdom in our new book, Smart Startups: What Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know — Advice from 18 Harvard Business School Founders. For the HBS founders we interviewed, there was no “lightbulb moment” for their startup idea. Be as capital efficient as you can be. You should be capital efficient.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2015

I am reminded of this problem every time my firm does a financing where a note went before us but more specifically I was reminded by this great post by Brad Feld to talk about the pre-money vs. post-money conversion issue. So how DOES a VC think about financings at early stages? It’s very simple. Those are the big three.

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Revolution

MARCH 1, 2023

This post highlights what has happened and what might be coming for investors and founders. And what does this mean for founders? For founders, valuation resets often mean “down rounds” where unrealized employee wealth evaporates seemingly overnight, with the corresponding morale problem.

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